2
COMMUNICATION
ONE of the arguments used against spirit communication is: “It cannot possibly be true, because so many have lost loved ones and have longed with unutterable longing for some word or sign from them; yet none has come.” Such critics do not understand that there must be a receiver here as well as a sender there. They do not realize that the so-called sixth sense is not a universal attribute. Yet it is that uncomprehended sense that renders one capable of receiving messages that otherwise would fall on empty air. Some possess this psychic power naturally; others may partially acquire it through practice. But in both cases certain conditions are necessary for the receiving of the subtle, soundless words that cross the unseen boundary.
Speaking of the development of this psychic sense, we are told:
“You can train the mind to stop thinking. Shut out all the world and all the busy vibrations of the brain. Study passivity; practice the passive condition until you feel yourself in tune with the higher vibrations. Try to realize yourself as spirit—not bound by the limitations of the flesh—but spirit on its way to immortal life. Then, when the message comes, listen spiritually; think of yourself only as a medium through which the words may filter to your mortal mind. For we must influence that mind, or you could not recommunicate our ideas to the world.”
A former teacher of psychology told us through the pencil:
“I tried to analyze the mind processes when on earth, and found that when I could attain the most absolute silence of the brain, the most absolute passivity, I received a gleam of thought from here. I did not recognize the source then, but called it the action of the subconscious intelligence. But now I know that into that silence of the brain, thoughts and words were impressed from here. Cultivate, then, this habit of silence. Spend some portion of each day in as perfect passivity as you can attain; and wait for the inner vision, the heavenly direction, which will surely follow, if you educate your mind to receive, instead of giving out its own thought.”
At another time, with a message partly written, a sentence was suddenly broken off and this followed:
“Will you stop thinking out our problem? We are trying to use your mind but it is not passive enough. It sidetracks our thought before we can impress it upon your brain. Just now we wished one thing and you thought another, and the ideas antagonized each other.
“We wish you to be so spiritually minded that we can come to you at any time, but the conditions are often contradictory. Sometimes you are passive when not psychic, and sometimes psychic when not passive.”
‘Which is better then, psychic power or passivity?’
“We can come through passivity more easily than through the psychic condition alone. To give up one’s personality and let us take its place is true passivity, and sometimes that is lacking when the spirit is most desirous to receive.”
There are many ways in which the discarnate intelligence tries to communicate with mortals. Raps, table tipping, trance speech and writing, the Ouija board, automatic writing, letters of fire—all have had their place. For ourselves the much ridiculed Ouija board brought messages both interesting and evidential, although automatic writing soon superseded the little triangle as quicker and more convenient.
“Many people begin with Ouija,” we were told, “and then discover other and better ways.”
We asked through what power the Ouija-board messages were sent.
“We influence your mind. If your brain does not respond, we cannot write. What we do is to impress the idea and let your brain form the words. Occasionally we can communicate our own words, but not always.”
We asked about Hyslop’s pictograph theory.
“It explains many things. We try to form pictures in your mind of the things we wish you to know, and the choice of the words generally comes from your own consciousness. But the idea is ours. Do not forget that. The words used are often not the ones we wish, but we have to take the ones called up in your brain by the idea sent across.”
‘It is claimed by some that the subjective mind, the subliminal mind, the latent memory, will account for the communications?’
“Some things do come from one’s own mind, but only such things as have been previously put into it.”
‘What is the subconscious mind?’
“The subconscious is the soul, and has the attributes of the soul. Inspiration, knowledge quickly acquired, sensitiveness to impressions—all these belong to the immortal part of life.”
‘We were told once that conscious and subconscious minds might be better called the material and the spiritual?’
“That is true. Your spiritual body is as much with you now as it will be here: only here your spiritual impressions will not be obscured by the material senses.”
‘The subconscious mind plays so many tricks, many are inclined to think it might do everything that is claimed as spirit manifestation?’
“The subconscious mind is a puzzle here as well as there. But we know that beyond its curious powers of memory, there is a great field for the true spirit life. And we here can discriminate and see the difference between the action of that subconsciousness and the outpouring of words, sentences, messages, and inspirations from here. We see and know. You do not see, and hardly know. Why not trust us to separate the two activities? Your mind does get in occasionally; but we tell you so, and stop your writing. Can you not trust us to guide you?”
Sis frequently notices that remarks from that side apply closely to thoughts that are in her mind, and she has wondered if her subjective mind had influenced the pencil. One night the pencil wrote:
“We know your thought and will prove it otherwise. We are here, and we are not your mind nor your subjective self. Answer me! Does your subjective mind move your arm or turn your hand around like this? Tell me!”
During this writing her hand was twisted and turned nearly over, still keeping the pencil on the paper.
“The inner mind is a problem we have to deal with, and we are glad you are watching it too. It was to show that it was not your own mind, that so many persons on this side have come to you in peculiar ways, and have impressed you with the reality of their presence.”
‘You have many times told me that my own thought was getting in and preventing your expression?’
“The unintentional coloring of the messages, the tendencies of individual thought, all have their part in changing, even ever so little, the messages sent from here. It is only through the most conscientious endeavor on both sides that truth can filter through. The world needs to know that there is no open highway between the two worlds—between the seen and the unseen! We follow hidden trails; sometimes we break new paths; occasionally we wander far in search of an opening; and we are glad when we find any narrow way by which we may come. Yet the world scoffs if we lose a step here and there and fail of perfect knowledge.”
‘Can you tell us some of the difficulties from your side?’
“I think you do not comprehend the difference in the intelligence of spirits, for some have only the conception of spirit life that was theirs when they left the earth. Many are like children and could not intelligently describe the life here. Others tell things that are not true, sometimes in ignorance, sometimes in mischief. Sometimes the newly arrived spirit may still be impressed by its own earth conceptions, and may send those mistaken views to earth.
“You must not forget that upon this plane that is nearest to earth, both good and evil forces meet. All come here; and even the malicious ones can communicate with those on earth who will receive their messages. This is one of the evils of the ‘open door,’ and must be carefully guarded against. Do not harbor thoughts of hatred or revenge; for they will call towards you the evil-minded here, and evil is the result. Be true to high ideals.”
“Be critical, but be patient and fair-minded. Cast out everything that proves to be a mistake, but keep your faith in us nevertheless. Try to see the persistent effort we are making to draw you toward us; and if we sometimes fail, try to be patient with our failures and let us try again. You must understand that the psychic power here is as necessary for communication as it is there. Not all here have that gift. We do not have it in full degree, and you say of yourself that you are not strong in psychic power; so you may understand that we are not perfect senders and you are not a perfect receiver. But if you are patient and conscientious we may get much truth to you.”
A prominent teacher told us through the pencil: “The physical body is the greatest obstacle on earth in an attempt to fix the mind on spiritual things. I felt it so when there. The material senses are strong; and are intentionally so, to aid us in our earthly existence. Nevertheless it is nearly a prohibitive proposition when the mortal tries to come into communication with spirit.”
“If you could only see our difficulties, you would be more patient with misunderstandings. We are of different condition and different expression, yet we try to give the marvels of this life in ways that you can understand. Be patient with our efforts to describe the indescribable.”
‘Can all spirits hear our voices when we speak?’
“Not all. That power is acquired by study. This circle has made it a special study and all here listen and hear your voice when you speak.”
Many times our teachers there find fault with Sis’s critical or doubting attitude, but once this was written:
“When we see the things that go across from here through the too credulous mediums we are glad of your skepticism. None of us wish a too uncritical attitude. There are two sources of evidence of the genuineness of our messages: one, the tests that have already been given you; the other, the messages themselves. These are definite statements, and in accord with high, spiritual life.”
Quite frequently in the earlier months Sis’s mind was so filled with doubt as to prove an obstacle in receiving, and the following comments were made at different times regarding it:
“Try and keep in mind all the fine and true messages that have come, and blot from your memory the mistakes that have been made. When you come here you will see our difficulties of communication, and will only wonder that anything can get through perfectly.
“You are much too doubtful, and hinder those who try to help. Yet doubt is better than too much credulity. That is why we are trying to give you proofs: that you may as honestly believe as you honestly doubt.
“Doubt is the only barrier, and you must recognize this, so that you will not lock us out.
“It is right to prove all things, but you destroy the proof by too much doubt. We are giving you things beyond the power of the senses to reveal. Your inner spirit bears testimony to the truth. Listen to that, and believe.”
The dangers of false teaching from that side were called to our attention and summed up as follows:
“First, those newly arrived, with only their earth desires and knowledge. Second, the really wicked ones who have not left their malicious influences in the grave, and will lead others astray if possible. Third, those who, though good, are mistakenly so, and still cling to the convictions of their earthly education—its mistaken beliefs, creeds, etc. Those who wish to receive the truth from this side must cultivate discrimination, must desire the spiritual teaching, with its pure and unselfish conditions. Yet even then, care and always care should be taken, that the message does not suffer in transmission, and does not get entangled in the mind-thought of the medium.”
Sis spoke of some wonderful spirit manifestations of which she had read, and the pencil wrote:
“You must not be disappointed because your power is of different quality. Have I not told you that the psychic gift manifests itself differently in different people? You are not a picture painter, nor a psychic letter-writer, nor have you any gift in materialization or trumpet speaking. These gifts are distributed among various people, and apparently all are necessary to influence different qualities of mind.”
Clairvoyance and telepathy have been advanced many times in attempts to explain away the spirit origin of communications. To get a better understanding of what these words mean we have asked Mary about them.
‘Does clairvoyance belong to the spiritual or the material part of man?’
“It is a spiritual gift entirely. It is the spirit vision and is unlimited in range. How otherwise could we go to you when you are in strange places?”
‘What is telepathy?’
“It is the power to reproduce in another brain or another spirit, one’s own thought. That is the shortest definition; but the power used, or the ‘how’ of it, would require a longer explanation. Will you wait until we can call someone who can explain more fully?”
Then after a moment or two:
“A teacher is here who says that the action of the mind is twofold—the outgoing and the incoming. The outgoing action may be—”
The pencil stopped for some time. Then another attempt was made:
“The brain receives impressions through all the material senses. But beyond these are the unexplained operations of other perceptions. These come from spirit forces—”
Then came an exceptionally long wait—so long that I finally asked if it was because Sis was lacking in psychic power.
“Not altogether. We are trying to give, in language sufficiently plain, the delicate operations of human thought—the intricate actions of brain and spirit.
“It is true that the human brain can send out thought which may find a receptive brain upon which it may be impressed. It is also true that spirit forces may carry messages from spirit to spirit. But in this latter case both sender and receiver must be sensitized by spirit perception.”
‘Is it through telepathy that you get messages to us?’
“Of course. How else could we reach you?”
‘Could a mind on this plane pick out a fact from the storehouse of another’s memory?’
“It would have to be an active thought in that other mind, a positive impression at the time.”
Sis asked how they impressed a thought on her mind.
“You have to read our minds in a way, through our help at least, before you can express outwardly through the pencil.”
I asked: ‘Do you impress her mind with the thought, or does she read your mind?’
“Mary thinks it is a blending of the two influences: our desire to impress and her desire to receive. When both influences are strong, the writing goes easily.”
‘I suppose these efforts to impress and to receive are really some form of vibratory force?’
“Vibration is a universal power with so many expressions they are hard to define sometimes.”
‘I wonder if each brain is a center of power, a creator of vibrations?’
“That may be true in a way; but there are so many variations of power, that the influences would be hard to classify. Mary wishes she were more scientific; but as yet she can deal only with results, seldom with causes. The study of causes is usually for far higher planes than ours. Some are intuitional here and seem to discern knowledge far beyond. But I am not of this class, I grieve to say. In the last analysis, of course, the great Creator of all is the source of all power and all uses of it.”
‘Mary, I wonder if you understand that statement any better than we do?’
“Not much. We believe more than you do, but the definite knowledge is ages in advance of our present learning.”
I had been reading aloud one evening an article, in which apparently the foundation question was not, “Can the dead speak to us?” but “What good will it do if they can?” And we turned to Mary for her viewpoint. Very emphatically the words were written:
“What good? Where are her thoughts, her knowledge of the subject? She seems wholly ignorant of the higher teachings of this life; of the happiness it has brought to anxiety; of the peace that has lightened pain; of the joy that has overcome sorrow; of the happy anticipation of this life instead of the old, terrified forebodings.”
One evening Sis asked what she should write to a friend concerning certain problems she had expressed, and was met with:
“I am not your brain. Think it out yourself. You can answer if you choose. Go to it!”
We laughed at the slang, and asked if it was their thought.
“That was a reflection from earth, but it means a good deal.”
I asked if the expression was in Sis’s mind. Mary replied:
“We got the expression from her brain, and sent it back through her brain. We have to depend largely upon your word language to express our thought.”
I asked:
‘Do you ever supply your words entirely?’
“Sometimes, and occasionally use expressions quite independent of her thought; but more often impress the idea and let her choose the words.”
The riddle of the subconscious mind, its action, its limitations—all have suggested many questions. One evening I said:
‘We have read that this subconscious mind that you say is the soul, has no power of reasoning; it just records all knowledge received. If it has no greater power, how does it become a reasoning intelligence there?’
“The subconscious self has added powers here. Its function on earth is to deepen impressions on the brain, nerves, or ganglia; and it often reacts by suggesting those impressions again to the outer thought in very persistent ways. But, once freed from its earthly limitations, it becomes a complete personality, with all the independent thought and action of the brain, and only suggests the former life through memory.”
Prof. William James gave us the following regarding the subconscious mind:
“I worked on the problem during my life on earth and found it too great for me, as the two phases interlocked so confusingly. The whole subject is, of course, clarified to me now; but the argument from here might not appeal to students there. But I will state the proposition as I now see it.
“There is an underlying consciousness in the human organism peculiarly susceptible from the outside. Dreams, visions, and germs of genius are hidden here. But this is not all. This same underlying consciousness is susceptible to the influence of spirit life and spirit intelligence; it receives messages from the discarnate as well as from incarnate influences. How to separate the spirit from the mortal influences—to discern the origin of influences playing upon this sensitive unseen part of the human organism—is the work of the intellect, that God-given power to separate, analyze, discard, or keep.”
The name of Professor William James occurs at intervals throughout this book. The manner in which we made his acquaintance through the pencil is fully described in Chapter 29. In addition to this episode other valued testimony has been given confirming the reality of his presence, which testimony for various reasons has not been included in the record. For a long time after he had apparently made known his identity, Sis resisted the movement of the pencil whenever it appeared to be trying to write his name. One evening when she had several times taken her hand away from the paper at such attempts, the pencil finally wrote very forcibly:
“Will you let me come, or not? W. James.”
‘Do you not know why I have resisted the tendency to write your name?’
“No, I do not. Why?”
‘Because I believed that one with your scholarly attainments would scarcely come to an unknown and inexperienced psychic, and I feared that my own mind was unconsciously trying to dictate the name.’
The reply came quickly:
“Remember that I was a student there of the subject you are now studying. No one can boast of knowledge here. The little we know sinks into insignificance in comparison with the great yet-to-be-known. Can you understand? We are all students. Let us learn together if together we can help.”
